Movistar rider Davide Formolo has been sidelined for at least six weeks after a cup of tea fell on his foot.<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old reported the incident on Instagram on Tuesday, saying he had damaged the tendon, and required next-day surgery.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s nothing you can do about it, life is strange sometimes,\u201d Formolo wrote on Instagram stories.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n \u201cYou ride around 30,000km a year with trucks brushing against your handlebars as if it were normal, you throw yourself down wet descents like Valentino Rossi at Mugello, then one evening a cup of tea falls on your foot, causing a small cut, and you can no longer lift your big toe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTomorrow morning I’m having surgery to repair the tendon, followed by a long rehabilitation period that will keep me out of action for at least six weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n Formolo\u2019s expected recovery period means he is likely to return towards the end of January. The UCI WorldTour season is scheduled to begin on 20 January with the Santos Tour Down Under<\/a> in Australia, a race the Italian has never done.<\/p>\n A Giro d\u2019Italia<\/a> stage winner in 2015, and former Italian road champion, Formolo\u2019s last professional win came at the Veneto Classic in 2023, then riding for UAE Team Emirates. He signed a three-year deal with Movistar at the start of 2024, and next season will begin the final year of his contract.<\/p>\n The 33-year-old\u2019s teacup incident is the latest in a long line of freak occurrences that have led riders to be injured<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2008, for example, Mark Cavendish<\/a> injured his calf muscle when he fell playing a snowboarding game on his Nintendo Wii console. Like Formolo, the Brit\u2019s incident came towards the end of the year, meaning he did not miss any racing targets.<\/p>\n On the more serious side, recently retired Ineos Grenadiers rider Luke Rowe<\/a> broke his leg while white water rafting on his brother\u2019s stag do in 2017. “I lifted my leg, but my foot stayed still, it was kind of hanging off, limp,\u201d Rowe told BBC Wales Sport at the time.<\/p>\n